Saturday, June 23, 2012

Bullying, Morality and Humanity...

Earlier today while checking my email, I found a notification from the very first Facebook page I ever created. One that I deactivated a few years ago, and haven't even thought about since I no longer use it for anything. After getting the notification in my email and out of some sadistic sense of curiosity, I logged into that account. It didn't take me very long to remember why I deactivated it in the first place.

Every person on the friends list for that account were people I went to HS with or knew from church or the places I worked, the bars I used to go to, the places I used to shop or hang out. I *knew* each and everyone of them, face to face. None of those people were *internet* friends. Some I had kept in contact with over the years, chatted with on one of the messengers (like yahoo or msn), or even spoke to them on the phone.

After reading some of the comments left in the news feed from some of these people I'd known most of my life, I had to get up and walk away from the computer. They are angry, unhappy people... and I am once again more than thankful I no longer live in Arizona, nor do I have to have this hazardous substance in my life. I can't believe at one time in my life I was one of *them*...

What follows are MY thoughts on how ass backwards the people of Arizona really are. And before anyone says I can't possibly know what I'm talking about, let me remind you all I lived there for more than 40 years. Arizona wasn't a place I ran to when life got tough for me some place else. This is where I grew up, where I went to school, where I got married, had children and got divorced. My entire life was in Arizona and even though I've been away for 10 years, I still have family and friends there that I talk to on a regular basis. AND I read the news that comes outta AZ.

Arizona is a *Red* state, a republican state. Every person on that friends list is a dyed in the wool republican. Their comments were full of hate and fear mongering. Not only were they against our current president, some of their comments were in my opinion borderline treason. Not one of them said anything positive about our country. I was shocked! Why? because this is the exact way I once believed, I was a party specific republican who voted straight republican ticket every election.

Most people in AZ have absolutely no idea what is actually happening in the world. They are born, live and die in that desert. And all many of them know is the life their parents gave them, and their grandparents before that. Some still live in the same house or neighborhood where they grew up. Most follow the politics of their family (I did, my Daddy was a republican, so I was too), and many never question why. Many have the sheople mentality and go along with the flow of what ever issue fits in with the political climate.

One of the more recent things I've seen come out of Arizona is that they have *killed* the school bullying bill. It has been decided this bill only protects the *gay* children in the school system through out AZ, so a law against bullying is no longer needed. Cathi Herrod has convinced the law makers of Arizona the only reason there was even a law in effect in the first place is because groups like Equality Arizona and the GSLEN are using the bullying issue to force their way into the schools and gain access to the children. Really? REALLY? WTF?

Bullying is rampant in every school and every society, not only across America, but all across the world. It is not exclusive to one gender, race, religion or orientation. EVERY child faces the possibility of being bullied for any number of reasons, but mostly just because there are people in the world who think it's alright to beat on someone just because they can.

So, yeah, I firmly believe the people of Arizona have lost all their sense of morality, if they ever had one. And their humanity is quickly following in the footsteps of that lost morality...

Oh and BTW, that Facebook profile?? I didn't just deactivate it, this time I deleted it. I want no contact with foolishness...